Mommy's Jade

I managed to "kidnap" my mom yesterday and spent quite a bit of quality time with her - hung out at mine, caught up with family gossip (juicy!), had lunch at Chat Thai, went grocery shopping in Chinatown and then back to mine.

And she brought me pressies! Tasty treats from home, new kitchen toys and some of her old jade jewellery.

My grandma, who was here earlier this year (and she's back again with my mom), went on about how Chinese girls should always wear some jade on their person "for luck and for good health"...blah...blah...blah. I told my mom and said she should bring me some just to shut my grandma up.

The jadeite ring was given to my mom by my grandpa when she was ten, like fifty-odd years ago! His pal, a pawnshop owner, sold it to him for $10! My mom doesn't wear much jewellery but she's always worn that ring until the joints in her fingers got fat from age. Wahahahaha!

The pendant and necklace, the non-jewellery-wearing her bought "when I was still a little girl" and they have been living in her jewellery box since.

Got some jade education too - I've always thought that jade, of all colours, after some wear, would eventually become bright green like the jadeite on my mom's ring. Most probably some old wives' tale I heard somewhere.

According to mom, jadeite is jade but a different type from the lighter ones ("nephrite", courtesy of Wikipedia) on the pendant and necklace. The only change I'll see in them over time, with regular wear, will be slight, from a light translucence to one that's a shade or two up, like some of the beads on the necklace. Ah...

However, I don't know if I'll wear them enough to see the "Hyper-colour T-shirt" effect. I love green things but never really quite got into jade. Maybe I associate it with naggy old ladies like my grandma. Or it might be their setting - find me some modern funky pieces (with silver instead of gold hardware) and I might wear them daily "for luck and good health", not only when I have to go see my grandma.

Sydney Airport = Kwispy Kweme

I don't know what it is about airports that makes me eat things that I don't usually eat. Maybe it's the happy polka-dotted packaging with the diner-style logo typeface. Not the sticky sweet glazed rings-o-dough within.

I don't even like being at airports, unless I'm the one who's travelling. All the waiting...and I think airports, despite being brightly-lit and buzzing with activities, are some of the most depressing places on earth. But that's just me.

We were at the Sydney one last evening because Mommy (my real one, not pals with "Mommy" as a prefix before their names) arrived for a one-month stay. Whoopeedoo! The last time I saw her was a year ago when I was home.

I hope I get to see enough of her for she is staying where she usually stays when she's here, at my aunt's (her sister). A proper house with proper rooms. Unlike our tiny apartment.

It's not too far away in the Eastern Suburbs but my aunt and my cousin have already planned all these things for her to do. I know they mean well and I'm invited, of course, but what I really want is to just hang out with my mom, go shopping, eat at places I like and cook together. You know, normal things (not drive for hours in a car with two screaming kids just to go look at some flowers). I'm sure my mom would like that too because she's done enough of the touristy things on previous visits.

So, if I'm quiet around here, it would mean that Mommy and I are spending quality time together. If I'm waffling on about pwetty things as usual, it would be that I've not managed to wrangle her away from her "tour guides".

I Am Not Delusional!

Bunny Ears - home-made, "Illusionist" Dress - Therese Rawsthorne, Lacy Necklace - The Empress Dowager's New Jewels, Clogs - Hasbeens

Yesterday, to A Little Bazaar where I was hawking The Empress Dowager's New Jewels.

Still don't like putting my mug up around here (this is a one-off!) but I wanted to show off the matching lacy bunny ears and necklace.

Weird "flying plane" hands in an attempt to flap those gorgeous billowy sleeves on the dress. Didn't do them justice so click here for a shot by a seasoned pro.

A close-up of the sign I wore the whole of yesterday on one ear. I think it's funny. Some people thought it was funny too and I got some orders for the ears already. Yay!

Anyway, back to why I'm not delusional...

People actually liked my necklaces! Enough to take some home! I would have been ecstatic if I had sold only one but I sold seven! And there were two girls who bought two each. *gasp*

I mean, I love my necklaces or I wouldn't make them. And my pals tell me that they love my work too - thank you "real" pals and also bloggy-pals Top Bird and AusStyle for writing about them! But they are pals and nothing beats getting affirmation from complete strangers.

Especially from a really cool chick and properly-trained (unlike me, a "dabbler") jewellery designer Zoe Brand. You can view her brilliant work here and here. She really made my day! And to top it off, she's invited me to take part in a show that she curating just before Christmas! Fuck!

I'm still reeling from the happy-high. And it sure felt great to be able to take the boyfriend out (and pay) for a three-course dinner last night - nothing fancy, just down the road at our favourite local diner, The Falconer - to say "Thanks, dude" for being so patient and generous and paying the rent while I pursued my little hobby without a day job for a huge part of this year.

It was a superb day! Despite the havoc that the strong winds and dust caused - I couldn't set up the stall the way that I initially planned to because the wind kept blowing the necklaces away (props bought wasted!)...it toppled my pretty mirror and broke it like five minutes after we put it up on the table...we spent the whole day holding down the necklaces whenever we felt a gust of moving air...

I don't know what I would have done if Ms Carpet (looking real adorable here with matching bunny ears and necklace) wasn't there the whole day to help me out...got progressively more jolly on cheeky drinkie-poos with me throughout the day...got her lovely mom (who bought a necklace!) to bring her precious antique Bakelite mirror for us to use...got her cute pals to come down to shop...Thank you, girl!!!

And "Thank You" to pals, both "real" (G and Mr R)and bloggy ones who became "real" (Gigi, Nat and Imelda Matt), for popping by to say "hello" too.

I know I promised loads of photos but these are all I have - too busy chatting to customers, preventing the Jewels from flying off and making beer runs (haha!).

But we made a new friend, the quirky Miss SmipsyHologram, with her camera shooting for 2Threads. You can view her photos of the market here.

Thank you, Smipsy! I've drawn in some ears for you here but you'll get the real ones soon!

I had a really really good time! Can't wait to do another market day!

Boing...Boing...Bunny Ears!

I've wanted some ever since I saw the Louis Vuitton ones for the first time.

Marc Jacobs is a genius but I refuse to pay US$300+ for a pair of his clever-ness. As much as I love him and what he does.

They looked easy enough to do-it-myself and that's what I attempted to do...until I got news that my application for a stall at the market tomorrow was approved.

The unfinished calico trial pair was put to rest at the bottom of my craft box for quite some time while I started work on making up enough necklaces to show at the market.

Yesterday, after I've sewn and tagged the last of the many necklaces, I finally could have a good re-look at the ears again.

The trial pair was perfect upon completion and I converted them, with a bit of crocheted cotton lace, into these...

...a bastard child of mine and Marc's, with a bit of Maison Michel thrown in.

Then I decided to make a second pair. For Ms Carpet who's helping me man the stall tomorrow - her "wage" and uniform.

In her favourite Saralisa fabric, to match the necklace that I made her earlier. Haha.

The print is so mad that if she wears them back to front, it'll look like she's wearing a completely different set of ears. Two-in-one. Yay!

We'll be wearing them at the stall tomorrow and if the response is good, I might make some in a variety of colours and prints to sell. If you would like a pair, let me know.

Olive Oil & Olive Oyl

So, I received my Swedish Hasbeens, the Braided Low ones, in the mail some time ago.

Those of you who know me, or read this likkle blog often enough, will know that I have a penchant for pretty-ugly footwear (see here, here, here and maybe here).

My Winter clogs have served me well, real well, for the last two years...enough to be mentioned with other clog-lovers from all over the world here, so I thought I should get some for Summer. With lower heels (but that's just an excuse to buy new shoes).

I've forgotten how long it takes for the pale natural leather to be tanned to perfection - compare and contrast the old Winter clog on the left to the new Summer clog on the right.

Thanks to the Hasbeens website, I now know that I can hasten the darkening process by applying olive oil to the leather! And the wood too, like I would to my chopping boards! I only knew to put leather in the sun to tan them before. Duh.

See the difference? Olive-oiled on the left and virgin un-oiled leather on the right.


"Stripey Thing" - Remo General Store, Cut-offs - from secondhand jeans, Charm Necklace - too old to remember where I bought it from, Polka-dotted Rosette - a sash that I twisted in a haphazard way, Clogs - Hasbeens

This is me being Popeye's gal pal today - fisherman's navy-and-white stripes plus a touch of red and polka dots. Or what I think a modern-day Olive Oyl would wear.

The clogs have tanned considerably since I got them.

Oh, I love what the shoe (or clog) box says.

Next up, these ugly-beauties in Natural again. Or these in Apple Green. Both from Hasbeens. For the next Winter.

If You're Not Doing Much This Saturday...

...come play at the launch of A Little Bazaar, a new market for contemporary jewellery.

This is a bit of a shameless self-plug (I apologise) - The Empress Dowager's New Jewels that I've been hiding at home to handstitch for the last few months will be hawked for the first time in public.

Along with loads of real pwetty shiny things by 24 other more "seasoned" makers-of-fine-goods (including the In-Sync ladies whose work I really love!). You can view a complete list of the designers and photos of what they will be showing here.

A Little Bazaar:
brought to you by Dialogue PR, the good people behind the very successful
Fringe Bar Markets

Where:
The Beresford Hotel (in their gorgeous and spacious courtyard)
354 Bourke Street
Darlinghurst
Sydney
(see map here)

When:
Saturday 26th September 2009
From 11am to 6pm

No pressure to make a purchase. Just pop by, say "hello", have a drink (or two - they have my favourite Japanese beer, Asahi, on tap!) and enjoy the music...

Image from here

...in this amazing space.

Tangerine Sydney Sky

Image from here

It's not a photo that's been digitally-manipulated.

This was really what we woke up to this morning. A dust storm of sorts - really strong winds lifted and carried the dust from the dry drought-affected inland areas to the city overnight.

I've never seen anything like it. Quite pretty, I thought. Until I saw the sawdust-like layer of fine orange particles covering every surface in our apartment.

Half-a-day spent dusting and cleaning! Bah! Shouldn't have left that tiny gap in the balcony door last night. Sigh. Hindsight.

Bondi Bonanza

Both the first and second play dates that Ms Carpet and I went on have been in my neighbourhood so we thought that it was time she showed me hers by the beach - Bondi.

First stop yesterday (an aptly-beautiful sunny day) was at the Remo General Store HQ down the road from hers. Lucky girl!

When I think of holidays to Sydney, the old Remo store on Oxford Street (now housing American Apparel) always comes to mind. Before it closed in the 90s, a visit to Sydney was never complete without a visit to the store for silly things for myself and to take home to friends.

Their HQ in Bondi is a tiny fraction of what the store used to be but it sure felt good to be able to see the goods up-close before making a purchasing decision.

I left with a Navy & White Stripey Thing (the lovely lady behind the counter threw the cute tote in for free) and Ms Carpet left with two of these, one for herself and another for her mom (who needs to replace her antique one).

We picked to do our little Bondi tour on a Sunday because it's Bondi Markets day. A short walk down Bondi Road to Campbell Parade by the beach and we were there.

Again, the markets were a must-visit on my holidays but since I moved here, I think I've only been once in the last five years.

It was quite refreshing, really, after such a long time. Like going to a whole new market that I've never been to. I remember some of the old stalls but there were some with goods that I've not seen before.

However, all my purchases were of the "old" variety.

A happy floral-print 1970s housecoat by Frason Lingerie - it's been a long time since I bought an old polyester-something but the flowers were too colourful and pretty to resist.

And a slip by Norman Hartnell, "the Royal Couturier" - save me hacking off the lacy hem of one of my other vintage slips to wear under my short Norman Hartwell dress.

Both from a really nice man who's selling off his stockpile of really choice vintage that he's left with after closing his shop in Newtown some time back.

You have to check in on Ms Carpet's blog to see what she bought from Mr Nice. A really gorgeous vintage pleated skirt by Prue Acton. I would have snatched it off her if it was in my size!

At the lovely May's stall next door, I found a new friend for my clip-clop frame bags! A vintage made-in-England one by good old St Michael (or Marks & Spencer).

And a new old ashtray for the tiny apartment. Funny how Ms Carpet was asking me what I hope to find at the markets at the start of the day and I said, "Oh, the boyfriend and I have been looking out for old coloured glass ashtrays for the longest time but those that we have come across have all been too expensive or in the wrong colours." Pay dirt! The boyfriend loves it too.

And May, the super-gregarious stall owner, let me bargained the price for both down to a really really good and happy one. Oh, the joy of shopping at markets! I think I will bake a batch of biscuits to surprise her with at the next Surry Hills Markets where she sells her wares too.

A quick stop for a frosty beer (a Tiger) at Bunga Bar - another for old-times'-sake spot - and then to the St Vinnies where this little cross-eyed Britt bear rattle (he was new, sealed in a box) called out for me to take him home.

When Ms Carpet promised me the "best falafels ever" for lunch, I thought she was taking me to Savion, a place my aunt used to take me to after yoga classes. But I was wrong.

And gladly so because Sabbaba was way cuter and the food was just as delicious. Plus Ms Carpet said that Keanu, another of my future ex-husbands, ate there loads when he was shooting The Matrix in Sydney (they have newspaper cuttings on the walls to prove it) - made me feel so much closer to him, eating where he's eaten.

Of course it's tradition that our play date has to end with at least one or two alcoholic beverages for the road. We had some at yet another trip-down-memory-lane place - the Beach Road Hotel. It's still the same - a little bit of a meat-market filled with locals and the backpackers that are slowly invading Australia at this time of year.

Thank you for the tour, Ms Carpet! It was good to have a local show me around.

Ahhh...The Smell Of New Coloured Pencils

So woody and comforting. Nyum. Go on, scratch and sniff.

It took me almost half-an-day yesterday to find the perfect set that I need for my beading class homework. Perfect = reasonably-priced + good quality + not made in China.

My first stop was the art supplies shop near us - they only had those super "professional" strictly-for-artists sets costing AU$50 to AU$90 per pop!

Next stop: Kinokuniya, my favourite Japanese bookstore with a little stationery section. Thought I could find some that come in a cute Hello Kitty box or equivalent. They only had crayons.

The colour palette I love!

Then Lincraft, a haberdashery-cum-craft-supplies store. AU$3.99 for a box of 24! Whoopeedoo, I thought. I tried one - the colour was weak and the lead broke after a few strokes. I turned the box around and it said "Made In China".

I remember we could get pretty decent coloured pencils like Caran d'Ache in the departmental stores back in Singapore so off I went to Myers. Nada. But the helpful sales assistant suggested I try the Dymocks bookstore next door.

Waiting to be used...

That was where I finally found this set of Derwent. Amidst two rows of shelves stacked with boxes of coloured pencils by various manufacturers, ranging from those for the kiddies to those for real artists. And I thought Dymocks sold only books.

But my dream set is this...

Aurora Display Case - image from here

...the "500 Pencils" project by Japanese design firm, Felissimo, for Social Designer, "a global company that strives to promote social responsibility through good design".

But the 500 can't be bought all in one go.

Orchestra Display Case - image from here

You have to subcribe to them "like a time-release of inspiration and colour, each month, over 20 months, a set of 25 coloured pencils is delivered to the collector" in really cute boxes. Imagine getting a colourful present every month for nearly two years!

Colour Wave Display Case - image from here

And the limited edition collect+display cases! Also available by subscription.

If I have them (the Aurora is my favourite), I won't be needing to use any one of the 500 coloured pencils to make drawings to hang on our walls!

And with such cute names and colours, I don't think I would be able to bear putting them through a pencil sharpener!

Shiny Happy Picture

Taken by my pal Ms J Jones. Just for me. To show me her new vase - the cute one, not the vodka bottle (from which she drank the last few drops of before taking the photo). Attached to an email written and sent very late one night recently filled with fluffy things that we usually talk about - haircuts, shoes, bags (croc skin clutches!), menswear and food. Thought I'd share the shiny happiness, with her permission, of course. That's all.

From Men's Pants To Diaper Pants

Felt like wearing a pair of the boyfriend's Modern Amusement plaid shorts today.

I've always worn mine like a boy, on the hips but of course his were too big and didn't really sit well. And too much "hippage" of the wrong kind with the belt.

But I was determined to wear them so I paper-bagged them at my waist with a thinner belt and rolled the cuffs up...and it worked!

The plaid-shorts-and-crispy-white-shirt combo is a look that I often find myself going back to since I first discovered "preppy style" in the 80s (strangely first via the kids in Japanese fashion magazines who adopted the look from the Americans) but have never worn them this way.

I think I quite like it. And it means that I get to wear "new" shorts - all of the boyfriend's. Whoopeedoo!

Knit-Knit-Purl-Purl-Knit-Knit-Purl-Purl

Lovely Mon from the I♥KX guerilla knitting circle left a comment yesterday on my post about the project. She said:

"Hi guys,

Just letting you know that I♥KX will take and love and appreciate abandoned projects. There are two weekends left but you can drop off bits and pieces to The Elk, Westpac Kings Cross and Coco Cubano in the Cross.

Also there are circles happening Thursday nights from 6pm at The Elk and Coco Cubano on Sundays.

iheartkx.wordpress.com is the best place to get all your deets."

For addresses, look here. Really no excuses now for those of you who have expressed interest in the previous post? Tee hee hee. I might just pop by to drop off my abandoned project which Mon thought was "kind of cute". Thank you!

Can't Fly Without Wings

Monday evening - At the Beading & Embellishment class

I felt so fucking crippled by my lack of dressmaking and pattern drafting skills (probably the next thing I should go learn). And goddamn frustrated too.

Most of my classmates are doing their project on a ready-made piece of garment - t-shirt, jacket, bra, gloves - but I have to make things difficult for myself by constructing something from scratch to work on. Where's the fun if I don't?

My initial plan was to embellish one of my fabric necklaces (I can't put together a piece of garment but I can hand-sew tiny things) but changed my mind because my idea of attaching "found" objects didn't really work given the short amount of time to find the right ones to experiment with. Plus the surface area was too small to fully incorporate all the techniques taught in class.

So, frantically, over the weekend, I trashed my all-ready-to-go presentation boards centred around the first theme (we were given three to choose from) and started work afresh on the new theme - something to do with Bollywood...loads of crazy colours (right up my alley!), patchwork, sequins, mirrored mosaics, braiding..."kitschy charm", according to the brief. Kitsch, it is! With a bit of the whimsical thrown in.

I went into class with this simple sketch supported by four A3-size pages filled with "look-and-feel" images and a very rough prototype of the calico mock-up in the first photo (sans wing). A lot more than what was required for us to hand in that day.

Despite the mountain of information, the teacher didn't seem to understand what I was getting at. He eyed the mock-up that I put on my shoulder with the biggest quizzical look that I've ever seen. Granted it was raw and crude and wasn't draping right but even the not-fashion-curious boyfriend got it at first glance. Visualise, sir. Visualise.

Fuelled by frustration, I came home and ripped apart a sleeveless blouse and copied the pattern for the shoulder. A huge pile of crushed tracing paper and wasted calico later, I finally got it to fit and fall right. Oh, besides dressmaking and pattern drafting skills, I would also like a dress form - it's hard draping and pinning fabric on myself in front of the mirror with hands at awkward angles.

With the paper pattern sorted, I could start on drawing the embroidery design. Whoopeedoo!

It's been a while since I made free-hand drawings so it took me the whole of yesterday just to get the front panel the way I see it in my head (you can tell from the number of erased pencil markings on the draft). Thank god I can still fucking draw some. I hope the teacher gets it this time.

Going to work on the back panel now...

Sneaker-Shopping Has Not Been A Picnic

I shouldn't be looking at shoes when what I should be looking for is a job. And a high-cut pair from a "big" brand at that.

I don't wear high-cut sneakers because the last time I checked (when I was still a teen), the height at which they end and their general bulk made my legs look stumpy. I've not bought a pair since.

I also have not bought a pair of sneakers from a heavily-logo-ed and advertised brand for years. I used to love my Nike and Adidas (New Balance and Puma occasionally but all low-cut, of course) and then one day, I just decided to go "neutral", fuck the trendy trainers war, and wear solely Converse - the Switzerland of sneakers in my books. It might seem like warped me-esque logic to some but my beloved Connie-wonnies have served me well - they are comfortable, last for ages and they go with everything, subtly and "quietly" so.

Anyway, these Nike Women's Dunk High Skinny. I saw them last month on a sneakers news site. Couldn't stop perving at the navy gingham picnic blanket ones. Cannot resist things in ultra-cute gingham or checks! With or without big swooshy logo.

Then I saw them "live" in the shops last week. Desperately hoping that my legs have miraculously lengthened and shaped-up over time (yah, right!), I tried them on. The boyfriend, who has never seen me in high-cuts all these years, couldn't hold back his evil laughter. I still look like Miss Piggy on stilettos.

They are for sale at both Platypus and Espionage in Sydney if you love them and have better sneaker-wearing legs than I do.

Note to Converse - Will you please make some gingham ones soon?!

Oui! Wii?

The eagle-eyed boyfriend spotted this new one yesterday! A simplified version of a Wii Remote?

I don't know how I could have missed it!

It's, by far, the highest spot that we've seen one of Will's "gadgets". Slightly above waist-level for shortie me.

Could have been the glare of the sun (I had to decrease the aperture on the camera for these shots). Or I'm so used to seeing bits of rubbish left by people on that giant cement stump that I didn't pay much attention.

We were standing right next to it for at least 15 minutes before the boyfriend quietly pointed it out - we were waiting for a table outside Makoto at World Square to get our regular sushi fix (the best of the conveyor belt variety in Sydney!).

After our lunch of always-delicious sushi, we found another one two columns down the road.

A certain Jasmin Shell ♥ these gadgets too!

The boyfriend thought there might a pattern to Will's placements of the "gadgets" along the stretch under the monorail track, like one on alternate columns. Interesting theory but these two were all we saw all the way down to George Street.

Something Old, Nothing New, Nothing Borrowed, Everything Blue

Shirt - a cute shop in Bugis Junction, Singapore, Cut-offs - from secondhand jeans, Espadrilles - Topshop, Belt- some surf shop

To match the blue cloudless sky we had today! A high of 31°C + hot blasts of wind + the prickly rays of the sun on my skin = a very happy me.

Other things that made me happy this weekend:
~ Yet another marathon video-viewing session - we finished watching all three discs of Season 5 of Entourage last night in one go. Ari Gold is truly gold! And my new favourite word from this season is "hozy" -> "whore" + "floozy". Gem!

~ Nearly done with homework for the Beading class tomorrow - have actually completed the "Theme Research" mood-and-feel board middle of the week but did a mock-up of the actual final product yesterday and it so didn't work. What I had in my head really didn't translate well onto cloth. Had to pick another theme out of the three that we were given and started from scratch all over again.

~ Rediscovering Grandaddy today - the boyfriend is way more into them than I am and everytime he puts one of their albums on, I don't really "listen"? Today I did (a little too late perhaps - they've broken up). Sumday was the disc and the first track made me happier than I already was.

I guess I make quite a cheap date - doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

A Typ(e)ical Day?

Blossoming Types
Been wanting to photograph this piece of "legal" (it's right outside the office of the Object Gallery so I assume it's a commissioned piece by one of the artists that they rep?) street art for a while now but have never walked by it at the right time of the day.

Lucked out today at about 12.30pm, on my way home from an iced chocolate with the Despotic Queen of Shoes. Whoopeedoo! Love how the wall is lit by the sun bouncing off the window from across the alleyway.

I'd really love to see the piece grow, like a climbing vine all the way up to the eaves of the roof, bursting with more colours. It would be cool.

When I got home, I found these in my Inbox...

Images from here

Edible Types
Marrying my two loves - food and cheeky typography!

"Handcrafted with love by Brigham Young University design students and faculty, for the 5th Typophile Film Festival. A visual typographic feast about the five senses, and how they contribute to and enhance our creativity. Everything in the film is real—no CG effects!"

Watch the full video here. It might bring some cheer if you're having another one of those typical days.